Thousands evacuated in Munich as 550lb unexploded WWII bomb is found under site of former Rolling Stones night club


2,500 people living within 1,000 yards of the explosive ordered to evacuate

Unknown whether bomb is American or British as both forces used payload

Fears complex fuse may trigger repeat of 2010 blast that killed three experts

Unexploded bomb is one of 2,500 estimated to be buried in Munich

Unusual to find bomb in such an heavily populated area

By JULIAN GAVAGHAN and ALLAN HALL
PUBLISHED: 12:21 EST, 28 August 2012


Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes in Munich as experts today tried to defuse a 550lb Allied bomb dropped on the city during WW2.

The undetonated explosive was found beneath ground at the site of the former Schwabinger 7 nightclub, a hangout of the Rolling Stones in the 1970s.

Bomb disposal teams fear its complex chemical fuse could trigger a repeat of the 2010 tragedy when three experts were killed in a blast in another German city.


Deadly: Bomb disposal expert Diethard Posorski next to the 550lb bomb discovered in Munich


Close up: The bomb, which was dropped by either American and British planes in either 1944 or 1945

Team leader Diethard Posorski said: 'That is a chemical delayed-action detonator. I am not defusing that - I’m not suicidal.'

So, rather than defusing the bomb, experts plan to surround it with sand and carry out a controlled explosion as the site.


RAINING DEATH: BY NUMBERS, WWII BOMBS IN GERMANY AND BRITAIN
2.8million tons Weight of all U.S. and British bombs dropped on Germany (54% USAAF)

75,000 tons Weight of Luftwaffe bombs dropped on Britain

543,000 Germans lost their lives in WWII air raids

60,000 Britons killed by German bombs

390,000 Sorties flown by RAF bombers

2,500 unexploded bombs yet to be found in Munich, according to experts

5% The proportion of bombs that failed to detonate


A large timber shell was today built around the bomb, which is believed to have been dropped in 1944 or 1945 by either British or American forces.

The controlled explosion is likely to take place tomorrow morning.

Only then will the 2,500 people living within a 1,000-yard radius of the site in the Schwabing area close to the city centre.

A nearby subway station has also been closed as well as parts of Leopoldstrasse, one of Munich’s busiest streets.

It is unknown whether American or British planes dropped the bomb, which was discovered as diggers tore a building down.

Both countries used the same type of 550lb explosives and rust is understood to have obscured any identifying marks.

During the war Royal Air Force and U.S. Army Air Force are estimated to have dropped around 50,000 bombs on Munich.

City officials believe that 2,500 unexploded payloads – around 5 per cent of the total dropped - are still buried in the Bavarian capital.


Precaution: The bomb, which cannopt be defused, is covered with sand bags ahead of a planned controlled blast


Cordon: A German police officer guards a section of Leopoldstrasse, which has been sealed off along with a a 1,000-yard radius area. A total of 2,500 people have been evacuated

And they pose a huge problem in all of Germany, where barely a week goes by without a new discovery.

It is unusual, however, to find a bomb in such a densely populated areas as most undetonated explosives tend to be uncovered outside big urban zones.

Allies dropped of 2.8million tons during WWII, massively eclipsing the 75,000 tons unleashed by the Luftwaffe on Britain.

By the war’s end, the USAAF had dropped 1.5million tons of bombs on the country and the RAF 1.3million tons. British bombers alone flew a total of 390,000 sorties.


Locked out: Evacutated people in an aid station in Munich, where they will have to stay until Wednesday


Round-up: German police officers evacuating apartment buildings after the bomb was found


Sealed off: Recovery vehicles parked on Leopoldstrasse, which has been blocked to traffic

As a result, few towns escaped extensive damage from air raids and, by 1945, 543,000 civilians had been killed by the allied assault, compared with 60,000 in Britain.

The worst air raid occurred in Dresden when, over two days, at least 30,000 civilians were killed in attacks by the RAF and the USAAF.

Last week a similar 550lb bomb was found in Nuremberg and experts fear that the dud payloads are becoming more dangerous due to ‘material fatigue’.

Already 67 years have passed since Germany’s defeat and over time the safety elements in the trigger mechanisms are increasingly wearing away.

It means that some bombs could explode before being discovered and others will be more difficult to defuse.

In the most deadly incident in recent years, three bomb disposal experts were blown to bits in June 2010 as they attempted to defuse an American bomb in the northern university city of Göttingen.





Read more: [www.dailymail.co.uk]

This story has absolutely nothing to do with the band and yet the writers chose to name drop The Stones and make the headline appear as though they were owners of the joint. Journalistic idiocy.

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GumbootCloggeroo
This story has absolutely nothing to do with the band and yet the writers chose to name drop The Stones and make the headline appear as though they were owners of the joint. Journalistic idiocy.

More like journalistic genius.

That was probably Keith's way of telling them to stop playing disco music. Did they find a hunting knife nearby?

That story is the bomb, thanks EG.

No way is that a bomb.

That's the stage prop Mick used when singing Starfokker.

The same thing was found today in Warsaw! No Rolling Stones relation except they played in the town twice.

Wow. The war has been over for 67 years and people are still dying as recently as 2010, and potentially more now and later, from the aftermath.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-08-29 02:44 by ChrisM.

one has to wonder what happens if the 'controlled explosion' were to set off another unexploded and as yet undiscovered bomb, nearby.

What am I saying...there are only 2500 undetonated around Munich...what are the odds of that happening, or some sort of a chain reaction happening?!

Lucky it did'nt go off.... could of been Abiggerbang

UXB

Kind of enjoyed that show.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-08-29 12:22 by MingSubu.

Hi Edith, interesting what news come under category "on topic", these days.

Well, at least Mick called himself a "war baby" which somehow supports the assumption this news may be on topic.

Moreover, I was going to say something significant but it escaped me ...



...

Coincidentally, part of Amsterdam's Schiphol airport has been closed after a suspected World War II bomb was discovered. The departure hall serving most European destinations has been evacuated. A bomb disposal team is trying to establish whether the device is live.

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ChrisM
Wow. The war has been over for 67 years and people are still dying as recently as 2010, and potentially more now and later, from the aftermath.

Aftermath - aha - now we have a Stones connection!

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Manofwealthandtaste
Coincidentally, part of Amsterdam's Schiphol airport has been closed after a suspected World War II bomb was discovered. The departure hall serving most European destinations has been evacuated. A bomb disposal team is trying to establish whether the device is live.

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franzk
The same thing was found today in Warsaw! No Rolling Stones relation except they played in the town twice.

Three of these unexploded bombs, all found within days of each other?

Is finding these things more common than people think? I dont recall (in the last 10-20 years) one of these "forgotten" bombs ever actually blowing up and hurting people... but maybe they bury the stories about it.

I have heard often about land mines, and people getting hurt by them and people trying to convince countries to STOP burying them.... but I dont hear much about 550 pound bombs causing modern damage. Do others hear about these often?

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HighwireC

Good grief!!! THAT WAS HUGE!!! I watched a TV report showing the detonation, but they didnt show an angle that good, it was mostly just the sound... thanks for posting.

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Max'sKansasCity

...

Three of these unexploded bombs, all found within days of each other?

Is finding these things more common than people think? I dont recall (in the last 10-20 years) one of these "forgotten" bombs ever actually blowing up and hurting people... but maybe they bury the stories about it.

I have heard often about land mines, and people getting hurt by them and people trying to convince countries to STOP burying them.... but I dont hear much about 550 pound bombs causing modern damage. Do others hear about these often?

[www.rp-online.de]

Finding these things is most common and everyday news here in Europe. In the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (just one of 16 German states, densely populated and industrialized, though) alone, there are about 1,000 such finds every year. Incidentally, bomb removers do happen to be hurt or die on the job, however, not too frequently. Three dead in 2009 and one dead in 2008 in North Rhine-Westphalia, e.g. However, no such stories have ever been "buried" here in Western Europe, I am sure. There's simply no reason for such manipulation of news, and, the local democratic history and the understanding of freedom of speech, of media and information here in old Europe don't provide for such a "burying" of news at one's will. That's all unheard of. Moreover, taking this Munich bomb find as an example, who should be interested in "burying" such news and, in all the world, for what reason? That's weird thinking. xxx"... they bury the stories ..."xxx Whom do you mean by "they" at all?

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dead.flowers

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Max'sKansasCity
Three of these unexploded bombs, all found within days of each other?

Is finding these things more common than people think? I dont recall (in the last 10-20 years) one of these "forgotten" bombs ever actually blowing up and hurting people... but maybe they bury the stories about it.

I have heard often about land mines, and people getting hurt by them and people trying to convince countries to STOP burying them.... but I dont hear much about 550 pound bombs causing modern damage. Do others hear about these often?

[www.rp-online.de]

Finding these things is most common and everyday news here in Europe. In the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (just one of 16 German states, densely populated and industrialized, though) alone, there are about 1,000 such finds every year. Incidentally, bomb removers do happen to be hurt or die on the job, however, not too frequently. Three dead in 2009 and one dead in 2008 in North Rhine-Westphalia...

Thanks for the info.

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Max'sKansasCity

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HighwireC

Good grief!!! THAT WAS HUGE!!! I watched a TV report showing the detonation, but they didnt show an angle that good, it was mostly just the sound... thanks for posting.

[www.welt.de]

What are you getting your kicks from, Sir?

The bomb had to be blown up in situ for it was too dangerous to transport it.

There is nothing HUGE or good in this story.

Several houses were severely damaged, will probably have to be torn down. One shop burned out completely. Several people fearing about their subsistence. All is unclear who - if there'll be any party to it at all - will pay for the damage.

Nothing to rejoice about, nothing to feed one's craving for sensation.

Seeing the video it shows what power these bombs already had. This one was even covered with lots of sand,etc. My parents families were all killed by them.
Hard to imagine them raining down on you.

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CousinC
Seeing the video it shows what power these bombs already had. This one was even covered with lots of sand,etc. My parents families were all killed by them.
Hard to imagine them raining down on you.

No kidding. One can see plenty of footage of the war planes from WWII dropping these bombs 20-30(100?)(1000?) at a time, but the historic footage does not show (as close as today footage) how HUGE the actual explosions were... and considering the footage above is of just one bomb, it is hard to imagine 50 (or 100 or 1000) of these bombs falling all at one time in a small area.

all the fire you can see in the video is mostly burning straw! The straw was somehow used by fire fighters to absorb the air waves caused by the explosion. Thus the explosion looks far more dangerous than it actually was

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slewan
all the fire you can see in the video is mostly burning straw! The straw was somehow used by fire fighters to absorb the air waves caused by the explosion. Thus the explosion looks far more dangerous than it actually was

Thank you for explaining.

I was suprised how humongous the explosion looked, but then again I am no demolition expert, so if someone said the bomb it could cause that huge of an explosion, I would believe it.... but it seemed huge for just one bomb.... anyway.. thanks for explaining.

It was a 550 lb bomb! This is what damage those things were designed for. Nasty stuff and a reminder about the consequences of war. Amazing footage.

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HighwireC

Whoa! Only thing missing was the opening of Start Me Up....Steel Wheels all over again.